I think the lasting image of this great Saturday in the NFL may be the postgame embrace between Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning. These are perhaps the two best football players of their generation, meeting on the field for the last time, and after a playoff game that went into a sixth quarter, both men looked drained as they hugged and then went their separate ways, Manning hanging his head and Lewis yelling exuberantly.

“I’ve never been a part of a game so crazy in my life,” Lewis said after the Ravens’ field goal in the game’s 77th minute gave them a 38-35 win.

I’ve never watched a couple of games so crazy in my life. That Ravens-Broncos game was simply insane. Double overtime in the playoffs? Broncos return man Trindon Holliday having the greatest game for a returner ever — and the Broncos losing anyway? Manning throwing an awful interception at the worst possible time? Crazy.

And then came Kaepernick, who has been transformed over a couple months from Alex Smith’s backup to one of the brightest young talents in the NFL. Kaepernick still makes some youthful mistakes, including a bad interception on the 49ers’ first drive and a stupid penalty for taunting. But my oh my is he a talented player. He throws with incredible velocity, and he’s such a good runner that he had 181 yards on the ground, more yards than any quarterback had ever had in any game — regular season or postseason — in NFL history. Until Saturday, the all-time record for rushing yards by a quarterback was 173 by Michael Vick of the Falcons in an overtime win over the Vikings in 2002. I remember watching Vick in that game and thinking no quarterback would ever do what Vick just did. Kaepernick broke Vick’s record in just his eighth NFL start.

What a day. Here are some thoughts on Saturday’s action:

The Broncos made some appalling mistakes. Denver ended both the first half and the second half by simply running out the clock, even though the Broncos had enough time and timeouts to at least get into field goal range. You’ve got Peyton Manning! Try to score! But going conservative at the end of both halves wasn’t even the worst mistake of all. No, the worst mistake was the inexcusable coverage by the Broncos’ secondary, which somehow allowed Jacoby Jones to get open for a 70-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter. An emotional Rahim Moore, who was covering Jones, stood up after the game and said, “It was my fault.” Sorry to be harsh, but he’s right: It was his fault.

Michael Crabtree and Frank Gore are the perfect complements to Kaepernick. Crabtree had 119 yards receiving; Gore had 119 yards rushing. I don’t know if any NFL team can be happier with its top quarterback, running back and receiver than the 49ers are right now.

Joe Flacco throws a beautiful deep ball. I’m not totally sold on Flacco as an elite NFL quarterback, but he certainly has a big arm, and he’s made a lot of things happen by throwing deep in these playoffs. Flacco averaged 23.5 yards a completion last weekend against the Colts, and he had touchdown passes of 59, 32 and 70 yards against the Broncos.

Pass interference is ill-defined and inconsistently called in the NFL. It’s frustrating, with how big a penalty pass interference can be, to see how the NFL’s officials can never agree on what is — and what is not — pass interference. We saw that three times in the first 10 minutes of the Ravens-Broncos game, and it went against Denver all three times: Baltimore’s first-quarter touchdown drive was kept alive by a shaky pass interference call on a third-down incompletion, then Corey Graham appeared to commit pass interference but wasn’t flagged on his interception return for a touchdown, then Demaryius Thomas was tripped on a deep pass from Peyton Manning but didn’t get the call. In overtime another questionable pass interference call went against Denver’s Champ Bailey. It’s not so much that any of those calls were blatantly wrong, it’s more that the NFL officials are so inconsistent in the way they call pass interference that no one ever knows when the official will throw the flag and when he’ll keep it in his pocket. On such a pivotal penalty — the only penalty that can give a team more than 15 yards — the NFL has to find more consistency.

The Ravens-Broncos officiating stunk even aside from pass interference. A phantom hold that called off a Broncos first down run. An absurdly long series of conferences while the officials debated an illegal hands to the face call. A referee’s decision to unilaterally abolish the tuck rule. I could go on but I think I’ll stop, because it’s depressing to focus too much on the officials after a great game. The officiating was a mess.

Aaron Rodgers was good on a day the Packers needed him to be great. This loss doesn’t fall on Rodgers. He was fine, completing 26 of 39 passes for 257 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. But the Packers’ defense simply couldn’t stop Kaepernick, so the only way the Packers were going to win was if Rodgers played a perfect game. Instead, he played just a pretty good game. On a great day of NFL action when the starting quarterbacks were Peyton Manning, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers and Colin Kaepernick, Kaepernick was the best. By a lot. No one could have expected that. And these unexpectedly great days are why the NFL will keep us coming back for more.

“Hit on a Defenseless Receiver” is the worst penalty in professional sports. You’re taught from Day 1 to keep your head on a swivel. You wear pads, you’re defended. You catch the ball and put two feet on the ground and see the defender…you’re defended.

You failed to mention the BS call on Carey Williams when he did nothing more then place his hand on Thomas’ shoulder and not pull. Oh, and how the refs signaled first down on that 4th and 1, completely ignoring the measuring rule. It was poor officiating both ways. Denver lost because of Denver.

Refs decided outcome in Denver game with holding call on 3rd and 1. The first six games of the playoffs have been marred with horrible officiating. The Ravens with a make shift OL didn’t hold all day? Come on…..fix is in.

It was a good day of football. Did anyone see how hard Ray Lewis slapped Manning in the head in that post game ’embrace’? Omg if Goodell sees it in slow motion Ray Ray might get docked slapped the s**t outta 18!

I must be getting old. I found today’s games to be marred by horrible defensive play. I personally don’t enjoy teams running up and down the field with such ease, but I realize the rules have changed and the majority of today’s viewers love these NBA-style games. What a dinosaur I am.

This game wasn’t about Baltimore, it wasn’t about Ray, and it wasn’t really just about football. Ray said it in the postgame. Never discount anybody. Never take anything for granted in life. It’s a timeless truth. As tge Roman philosopher Erasmus says ”fortune favors the audacious.” You can’t catch breaks in life, you can’t succeed in life unless you show up and put your best effort forward.

Not even the NFL refs could bail the Packers out tonight. Tons of missed calls against the Packers that would have been called on their opponents. There was also a questionable catch from Delanie Walker that he ultimately didn’t get, but would have been granted to the Packers. As I said in another post, I only hope Clay Matthews doesn’t say the Packers beat themselves and that the blame lies with the refs.

Just what is an “elite quarterback”? And who came up with this ridiculous label? And why are quarterbacks treated like baseball pitchers in that they are given “won/lost records”?
Forget Super Bowls rings and winning percentages, quarterbacks should be judged only on how often they get their offenses into end zones.
Why should a quarterback be credited with a personal “W” in a 10-3 victory? Or why should a quarterback be penalized with a personal “L” in a 40-38 shootout loss?
In case no one has noticed, baseball pitchers play DEFENSE. Quarterbacks do not. Football games are either won or lost by TEAMS, not quarterbacks.
Joe Flacco is damn good QB who throws the deep ball like no one else. But is he “elite”? What’s the difference?

“Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning. These are perhaps the two best football players of their generation”

Huh?
Perhaps Tom Brady is- he’s two plays, one freaky and the other spectacular, away from FIVE Super Bowl titles. The media adoration of Peyton Manning continues despite his choking away big games- today on a pick in OT and 2-3 years ago on a pick by Tracy Porter to lose the SB to New Orleans.

Manning is now 9-11 in the post-season while Brady is 16-6 and has 3 Super Bowl rings.

Officials cost the broncos the game today with the questionable calls. It should have never come down to the horrible rahim moore play or manning int in overtime because had the game been officiated correctly, the ravens would have had at least 14 less points. These are seriously the best officials that the NFL has to offer for some of the most important games of the year?

Kudos for the mention of the unbelievably bad officiating in the Den/Balt game.

That aside it was nice to see Flacco silence the critics that have been dogging him all season because he said that he considers himself an elite QB. [Note to Boomer and Tony Kornheiser…shut the eff up you smirking clowns].

But these aren’t the replacements so they must be the best, right?
Denver played too poor to win anyway.
Kick the dirt after you miss, not before you kick.
70 yard TD w/ 31 sec. to go?
Kneel with time left?
Throw across your body?

Completely unacceptable breakdown in coverage on that Raven’s touchdown before overtime.

With over 30 sec’s left in the game and John Fox decides to run out the clock instead of try to drive into field goal range? YOU HAVE PEYTON MANNING. DON’T COACH LIKE A SCARED PUNK.

Speaking of Manning…nice throw there buddy. Definitely one of the best ever, but he has made more poor throws in crucial situations than people realize…

Kaep looked like a man among boys today, but as a Niner fan I’m betting he doesn’t look other-worldly against the ‘Hawks next week. (That’s right ATL fans, I’m giving your team zero chance to win tomorrow.)

This year will be the last year for a long time Crabtree is not voted to the Pro Bowl.

Broncos’ defense got exposed as it has all year by the better teams that the broncos’ played. Dumervill / Miller were no shows. Secondary had some problems. Broncos’ still should have won but got ripped off from non-interference call on pick six.

I thought they did not apply the tuck rule because it seemed to me that Manning had pulled it back in, and gained control when he had it near his groin. Only then, and it was a split second, did he subsequently lose the ball.

Since it was a review, it needed to be 100% conclusive to overturn the ruling on the field, and it was just too close. I don’t think the ref just unilaterally decided to ignore a rule.

Great…here’s a place for me to hate on the fact that the NFL puts crews together for the playoffs who have 0 experience with each other. I cannot STAND that, it’s ludicrous. One would think that with football being such a team sport, the powers that be would recognize that goes for officials as well.

Instead of taking each of the officials at their positions who graded the highest and tossing them all together willy nilly, why not take the totals for each man on the crew and the top totals for the crews are the crews that work the playoffs? Having guys together who never worked together is a mess.

Packers Fan here, first of all, I love all the hate for my team in the comments sections. Jealousy is a stinky cologne. And yeah, they ran into a better team tonight. They had no answer for Kaepernick and looked slow and confused. The 49ers were amd are the better team. Congrats and good luck.

And the Ravens/Broncos game was football at its best. It really is good to be an NFL fan…

Really?! 1974 yards total offense between the 4 teams (almost 500 each) and 149 points on the board total and this was a day of defenses winning games? What was amazing is that you have three of the best defenses in the regular season and we got those kinds of numbers. Amazing!

It’s probably good the Pack got thumped this week…
The only team left in the NFC they might beat would be the Falcons…
And they’re going down later today…
Buck up Packers fans…
You’ll always have your ‘Failmary’…
Go Hawks!

I’m a Broncos fan, and you know what? You’re right. This was a good day. We lost, that sucks, but it was a great game- hard to be too upset, despite some of the bad moments in it. Congrats to the Ravens and 49ers!

Ready to play @ Foxboro and settle the score from last year. This time we won’t pull a Cundiff. We win close games by bending and not breaking. We back that up with an elite rookie kicker. Thank you Jones, for not Evans’ing that 70 yder on us….keep it up bro

Wow SF looks tough!! I’m looking forward to a Harbaugh bowl! Even tho it should have happened last year. Both teams got very unlucky and are now out for redemption. Look out NFL SF and Kaepernick are for real!!!

Side note. Think the Texans wish they kept Holliday? I was shocked when he was released. He was a monster in the preseason for them.

Regarding the (non)tuck play. The reason that it was not a tuck is because while bringing the ball back to his body he did manage to get his second hand on the football (if only for a split second). The second hand on the ball, even if for just a split second, counts as completing the forward motion.

The Broncos made some absolutely horrendous mistakes this game, but 14 Baltimore points were scored off of blown calls. The missed PI call which ended up in a pick 6 for the Ravens. And the tuck rule call which should’ve been an incomplete pass. 2 TDs right there. As bad as the Broncos were at times, they still didn’t deserve the reffing they got today. This shouldn’t have been a nail-biter at the 2 minute warning. I can only hope this reffing crew doesn’t get another game this playoff season.

You didn’t mention some of the generous home-cooking the Broncos got? Three Very friendly, 1st down spots that weren’t even close, and the ridiculous hands to the face on Suggs, and the holding call on Cary Williams that kept their drive alive to name a few! Agreed on the officials taking too long to conference though.

Rodgers padded his final stats by going 8-10 for 75 yards and a TD on that meaningless final drive. Otherwise he was just 18-29 for 182 yards and 1 TD. And if the refs call it correctly he should have ended up with 1 TD & 2 INTs. Closer to OK than good.

Make note, Tom Brady—its the changing of the guard. Swaub and Flacco then Ryan, Kapernik or Wilson stand ready to assume your post at the top. You’ll likely not see another, definitely no better chance to hold the fort for the Old Guard.

The whiney Packers season is over and the Manning Hype Machine is derailed, awesome day of football.
I’m just awaiting the barrage of cryin from the media and Pack fans about how the Hawks game somehow cost them this game.

Very well said, this writer knows what he’s talking about. I thought I was the only person who noticed Denver’s mistake of not going for at least a field goal at the end of both halves. What a poor organization.

Game supervisors called down to inform Vinovich they had enforced the illegal hands to the face incorrectly, starting a 5+ minute confab. 30 seconds into that conference, the game announcers were ripping the crew apart…err..wait – it’s fine – they weren’t replacements. That’s fine. Carry on, guys, we’ll wait.

To all those doubting the Ravens, we’re back in the same position as last year.
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Excellent. Can’t wait to see another choke job, though who’ll play the part of Evans and Cundiff? I’m sure someone will step up.

Point number 4 is exactly why I turned off the game after Baltimore didn’t get a first down on fourth and five with 3 minutes left. I just don’t understand this game anymore. This has been happening more and more this season and it takes the fun out of watching. Every time there’s an incomplete pass I keep expecting there to be a flag thrown. I get trying to protect players and stuff, but it’s time to let defenders get back to defending.

despite brutal officiating around pass interference calls the Broncos had that game won.
Coach Fox sat on the ball end of regulation like a dummy.
then Fox ran on 3rd and 7…a first down ices the game.
then the safety forgets how to play a deep ball when only a bomb can beat you..
frustrating for a broncos fan….but still a great, great fun game to watch…

Also love the way the packers fat coach punted from the 50 down 14 points with 8 minutes to go….when your defense couldn’t stop the niners all day…..smart coaches go for it there….its your only chance….

Not a fan of either team, but I thought Denver not going for a first down, let Manning throw for a first down when it was 3rd and 7. They decided to run up the middle and to punt and give the Ravens the ball with 1.09 left. I said why would they not try for a first down you have Manning you paid for Manning this is why you did just that and you run. LOL I love it though, Elway LOL. I said watch the Ravens make them pay for that and they sure did. Then to take a knee with 31 sec in regulation with 2 timeouts left haha why go to all the trouble to get Manning and then not let him earn his pay, no trust in him I guess. That’s just crazy, they deserved to lose.

Kap was incredible. He’s quite a bit bigger than RG3, so he can probably take hits better since he runs often. Nonetheless, I’d hate to see Kap get hurt like RG3 did last week. At this point, I’m rooting for the ’49ers. I don’t like Pete Carroll, and Kap is an amazing talent.

Agree that having all-star ref crews is not a good idea. Also, I think having a relatively new referee Vinovich also didn’t help. The old-school referees (and yes the Hochulis of the world have their issues), I think, let the players play a little bit more in the playoffs and don’t make “bail out” calls as much. I may be dead wrong but even though it isn’t their regular crew, I’m guessing a guy like Hochuli might tell the guys, “don’t throw your flag every other play and start making us the story.”

DPI is a joke I agree. 15 yards instead of spot of the foul would be an improvement. Tired of seeing it botched/inconsistent–Groundhog Day.

Manning play enough for the win. He is the most unlucky qb in playoff history. The last second lost to jets in 2010 with kick return, didn’t get a tie with last missing field goal in 2006 to steeler, and last night.

The officiating indeed sucked yesterday, but neither losers (Donks/Packers) has anyone to blame but themselves.

While they clearly were victimized by bad calls, the Broncos clearly had the chance to win, and failed. The Packers defense was finished by halftime, and Rodgers didn’t stand a chance after that, the Niner’s offense kept out-pacing the packer’s offense.

Give credit to the never-say-die Ravens, and the we’re for-real 49’ers. I don’t know where this Niner’s team was a couple weeks ago against Seattle, but they played some mad football last night!

Come up short in the AFC title game and well, you’re basically the Jets.
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This is why Jets fans are viewed as total tools.

The Jets haven’t played a game like last night’s since 1969.

Even if the Ravens lose next week, against either team, the heart and talent they showed last night is something you Jets fans haven’t seen from mark Sanchez and that three ring circus that Rex Ryan is the ringleader of, EVER. I would still hold the Ravens up as a solid football team that your 6-10 losers should never step on the same field with.

Thank you PFT for noting the horendous officiating. I thought I was the only one who thought it was ridiculous and didn’t hear much on the post game shows about the officials. You are so right about the lack of consistency in the calls. Everyone talked about Peyton’s bad throw and the (yes, it was horrible) defensive plays by the Broncos but didn’t hear a thing about the number of calls that went against the Broncos.

Alex Smith will be a great Q.B. for the right team. He has an impressive resume and got S.F.to within a muffed punt to the Super Bowl last year. His body of work, this season, allowed Kap to come in mid season very healthy and not banged up. Thank-you Alex for all you have done for the 49ers. I hope he can stay as a competent back up to a running C.K.who could easily get injured but I see him being a starter for a long list of teams.

The game continues to get better and better because the new talent coming last few years are taking over the league, last 2 drafts are performing in a level i had never seen before and i have 38 years of watching football.

I totally agree about the officiating. Both the Broncos and the Ravens played well, but the officiating was horrendous, and one sided. It truly helped in deciding the outcome of the game and that should NEVER HAPPEN! But there was no call as bad as giving up time on the clock and possible points when you have your timeouts, and just handing the game over. This drove my husband and I insane, and in the end, it probably cost them.

I totally agree about the officiating. Both the Broncos and the Ravens played well, but the officiating was horrendous, and one sided. It truly helped in deciding the outcome of the game and that should NEVER HAPPEN! But there was no call as bad as giving up time on the clock and possible points when you have your timeouts, and just handing the game over. This drove my husband and I insane, and in the end, it probably cost them.
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The convicts in Purple threatened the refs obviously. Denvers D was awful though, so many offsides and couldn’t get off the field against a pathetic offense.

Great day for football yesterday but if you broncos fans could please just quit making up excuses on why your team lost & bringing up the pass interference calls. Take the loss move on look forward to next yr & if I remember right I’m pretty sure your crappy kicker Matt Prater missed a chip shot FG that would have won the game Congrats Baltimore Ravens signed by a sincerely happy chiefs fan!

I was sitting section 118 at the Broncos game, and let me tell you last year at the Pittsburgh game I thought to myself “I’ll never see a better game”. I was wrong, this years divisional was an insanely awesome duel in the high tundra, BUT I was one SAD fan walking out. A great day to be a fan in the NFL, but a horrible day for broncos fans…least this article cheers me up.

Don’t discount such a great end to the Ray Lewis/Peyton Manning rivalry by complaining about the refs… Yes many calls were questionable and prob even wrong… But I also saw a blatant block in the back on atleast one of those run back TDs as well by Denver that was never called and holding on a few other plays… This will go down as one of the best hard fought matches of all time… Hats off to both teams who also played with a heat index of -3 degrees… I am honored to have experienced it… I said at halftime win or lose this game is gonna be epic and will be a fight to the finish… I love FOOTBALL!

why do people always think oh he is a kicker. Like he is the worst position on the team. Like they don’t mean much at all. I hate when they act that way. How many games do these who care kickers win the games for their team and especiallly right at the end of the game. They don’t get enough credit at all. their own teams don’t think kickers are a big deal, they can score pts. just like a qb, wr, te, cb, rb can. unless there is a fumble no one else can score.

Denver and the refs beat Denver. They are a way better team than the Ravens… The entire league and fans know this. Half the nation will now end up turning the channel off by the end of the first half between the Pats and Ravens. Ravens and their fans will be back to square 1 after next weeks game.

Lifelong Denver fan= the hardest loss in recent memory. We were outplayed pure and simple. Three strikes: 1) Abysmal defensive play 2)Manning’s 3 turnovers which all led to scores 3) Conservative play-calling. I hear Denver fans griping about the game, but do you really expect to win a playoff game without playing well?